


Westerburg Confessions

by thewishingdragon



Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Mystery, flower symbolism, platonic jdonica, they'd be great friends and you can pry that headcanon out of my cold dead hands
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-04-19 08:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14232843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewishingdragon/pseuds/thewishingdragon
Summary: The blog seemed to appear out of nowhere, with dozens of confessions already posted, sharing their secrets with the world. Nobody seemed to know where it came from or who was running it, but they flocked to it in droves, drawn to the anonymity it afforded them to type out what they were too afraid to say.





	1. Chapter 1

The Heathers weren’t sure how it started.

The blog seemed to appear out of nowhere, with dozens of confessions already posted, sharing their secrets with the world. Nobody seemed to know where it came from or who was running it, but they flocked to it in droves, drawn to the anonymity it afforded them to type out what they were too afraid to say.

Westerburg Confessions had only been active for a few hours, but it had already amassed a following.

They’d heard whispers about a blog throughout the day, heard freshmen talking amongst themselves about how secure it was, how all they needed to do was send a submission and it was posted anonymously. They heard sophomores and juniors trying to guess who’d sent in which submission, who ran the blog, why they were doing it. They heard seniors talking about how useful it would be to be able to talk about things without worrying about the Heathers exploiting the information.

Most importantly, they heard the faculty asking one another what was going on, and who was behind the blog.

It seemed that nobody knew where it had come from or who made it.

“Listen to this one,” Heather Duke said, gaze locked on the computer screen, “‘I’m on the football team, and I don’t know how to tell the team I’m gay without them being disgusted with me.’”

McNamara frowned. “Heather, why is it such a big deal?”

Chandler scoffed. “It’s a _big deal_ because someone at this school runs this blog, and whoever runs this blog has access to everyone’s secrets.”

“ _Holy shit,_ ” Duke gasped. “Listen to this: ‘I’m a girl with an enormous crush on _Veronica Sawyer._ ’”

Mac rolled her eyes. “So some girl likes Veronica. Who cares?”

“Who likes me?”

The Heathers turned to Veronica, who was staring past Duke at the computer screen.

“Oh, is that the blog Courtney told me about?” Veronica chuckled. “I got an email about it last night." She grinned. "If it’s really anonymous, then maybe I’ll send a submission some time.”

Chandler’s eyes widened. “Courtney told you about it? Do you think she’s the one running the blog?”

Veronica laughed. “Nah. Unless it affects her, she’s not really able to keep anyone else’s secrets.”

Duke frowned. “If we knew who started the rumor, then maybe we could make some headway in figuring out who runs it, but nobody’s telling me anything.”

Veronica hummed. “If you want, I could ask around, see what I can find out.”

Duke scoffed. “What makes you think you’d be able to pull it off?”

“If you recall, I used to be a loser,” Veronica grinned, “And most of the students at this school have an agreement going where we don’t sell each other out to ‘The Heathers.’”

Duke’s eyes narrowed. “But you’re one of us.”

“Not quite,” Veronica said, “I may hang out with you, but that doesn’t mean I’m ‘a Heather.’ It’s more like _you’re_ the Heathers and _I’m_ just someone who tags along with you to parties and stuff. I’m tolerated, but I’m not one of you, which makes me trustworthy.”

Chandler huffed. “Whatever. Just see what you can figure out.”

Veronica chuckled. “Aye aye, cap’n.”

* * *

“I have news,” Veronica said simply, sliding into the seat next to Chandler at the lunch table.

“What is it?” Mac asked.

“As far as I can tell, the rumor appears to have multiple sources.” Veronica gestured with her fork as she explained. “I asked Courtney, and she told me she got an anonymous email from someone who called themself ‘Zinnia,’ and told her about the blog.”

Duke rolled her eyes. “Courtney can’t be taken seriously. All she does is lie.”

“Maybe to you,” Veronica shrugged, “Anyway, I checked around, and Dennis told me the same thing. Zinnia contacted him, told him about the blog, and left him to his own devices. The same appears to be true for Peter and just about any student who’s in charge of a school organization, so whoever runs the blog has some serious connections around the school.”

Chandler frowned. “Anything else?”

“Actually, yes.” Veronica frowned. “The weirdest part is, the news appears to be coming from three different email addresses, presumably run by different people. Zinnia seems to have only sent emails to the student council and to the students in charge of the team sports. Then there’s White Periwinkle, who seems to have contacted the presidents of any clubs or organizations centered around art or music, like the theater club, art club, and all the section leaders of the marching band. And the last one is Marigold, who seems to be focused more on the A/V club, chess club, and anything else surrounding the sciences or intellectual pursuits.”

“Why do they use flower names?” Mac asked.

Veronica shrugged. “Symbolism, maybe. Or it could just be because they decided to use the names of their favorite flowers. All I know is there are at least three email addresses tied to this blog, which means there could be more than one person running it.”

Chandler groaned. “How are we going to find out who it is if there’s more than one person?”

Veronica frowned. “I don’t understand why you want to find out who’s running the blog.”

Chandler rolled her eyes. “Of course you don’t.”

Just as Veronica was about to ask what she meant, the bell rang signaling the end of lunch.

“Shit!” Veronica bolted up from her seat. “I have to go! I completely forgot about the student meeting!”

“What student meeting?” Chandler demanded.

“The one the faculty set up to try and figure out who made the blog,” Veronica said, “They asked for all the students that lead school organizations to meet in the auditorium so they can find out what we know.” She looked at Duke and Mac. “Are you two coming? You both got an email, right?”

Mac and Duke shared a look of confusion, and Veronica hummed in realization.

“I guess the blog admins don’t trust you either.” She shrugged, picking up her tray and tossing it in the trash on her way out of the cafeteria.


	2. Chapter 2

“Finally, you’re here.” Betty huffed as Veronica rushed into the meeting. “Did the Heathers keep you busy or something?”

Veronica groaned. “They want to find out who runs the blog. I’m willing to bet it’s for nefarious purposes.”

Betty rolled her eyes. “Honestly, why else would they want to know who it is?”

“Everyone settle down!” Ms. Fleming said. “We have a lot of work to do to get to the bottom of this.”

Veronica chuckled when everyone proceeded to ignore Ms. Fleming’s instruction. “Really now, can’t they get a teacher who’s _actually_ good with kids to lead this meeting?”

Betty laughed. “Hey, she’s _your_ aunt. I don’t have to deal with the secondhand embarrassment every time she calls herself _woke._ ”

Veronica groaned, falling back into one of the padded auditorium seats. “How’d they figure out the presidents of the student organizations were the ones who got the emails?”

Martha shrugged as she sat down. “Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. Maybe someone asked around like you did?”

“I doubt it,” Betty said, “They’re teachers. They think we’re too stupid to know what we’re doing. Do you really think they’d come to us about this? It was probably a parent who told them about the blog. A religious one, probably.”

Veronica nodded. “And they saw all the posts from the closeted kids and called the school to complain.”

Betty grinned. “Exactly. And they probably figured out who got the emails based on whose parents called the school after the blog went live”

“But they can’t do anything, can they?” Martha frowned. “The blog isn’t actually affiliated with the school, so they can’t call in anyone to investigate or have it taken down.”

Veronica shrugged. “Maybe they think they can find out who made the blog and talk them into shutting it down so the parents will stop complaining to the administration.”

“Good fucking luck with that,” Betty remarked, “Nobody can figure out who Zinnia, W.P., or Marigold are, so the odds of anyone finding them are slim to none.”

Veronica chuckled. “W.P.?”

“Saying White Periwinkle takes too much time.” Betty crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at Veronica.

Veronica smiled. “In any case,” she said, “The parents will eventually figure out nothing’s going to get done and either give up or get the police involved.”

Betty snorted. “The cops can’t get involved if nothing illegal is happening.”

Veronica smirked. “Exactly. So long term, nothing’s going to happen. The blog will continue to run unhindered and the parents are just gonna have to deal with it.”

Fleming had been talking uninterrupted during the entire conversation, but once they stopped, she turned her gaze on them.

“Any ideas as to how we can figure out how the blog started?”

Veronica raised her hand. “You could track the IP address the emails were sent from. That would tell you where the people running the blog were when the blog went up, and maybe you’ll be able to figure out who it is then.”

Fleming grinned. “ _Very good,_ Veronica! Do you know of anyone who could do that?”

Betty raised her hand this time. “I can. It’ll take a few minutes, but if the administration will allow it, I can figure out where the emails came from.”

Fleming clapped her hands excitedly. “Wonderful! We’ll have this mess sorted out in no time! You’re all dismissed! Go ahead and get to class. And Betty? I’ll talk to the principal about allowing you to use the school computers to do what you need to do.”

Betty nodded, and as the students filed out of the auditorium, she grinned. “How much do you wanna bet she had no idea what we were talking about?”

Veronica scoffed. “She once asked me why she couldn’t use her wireless mouse. It turns out she threw away the USB dongle because she didn’t think she needed it. There’s no fucking way she understood a word either of us said.”

Betty shook her head, disappointed. “Your aunt needs help.”

Veronica laughed. “Tech help or professional help?”

“Yes.”

Martha snickered.

* * *

Veronica sighed in relief as she sank into her desk chair. The Heathers apparently didn’t have a party to go to, so she was free to spend her evening however she wanted.

She turned on her laptop and opened the browser, typing in the Westerburg Confessions domain and smiling as the page appeared.

“Alright, let’s see if there’s anything new.”

She scrolled through the submissions, and was surprised at how many there were compared to that morning.

**_I think I might be bisexual, and now that I know it’s a possibility, I’m beginning to suspect that I might have a crush on my best friend._ **

**_My parents are still married, but I know for a fact my dad’s cheating on my mom._ **

**_Sometimes I wish my parents would at least pretend they gave a damn about me, because as things are now, I doubt they’d notice if I just stopped going home._ **

**_I seem like the perfect kid to my parents, but the fact is, I don’t know how to tell them I feel like I’m wearing a costume when I pretend to be the son they love so much. I think I might be trans, and I don’t know how to tell anyone about that, either._ **

Veronica read each submission carefully, before opening a new tab to check her email.

The email from White Periwinkle was still in her inbox, and she clicked on it, skimming over the contents and noting that it looked exactly like the one Peter had gotten. It was obvious that the same content had just been copied and reused for each email and modified as needed.

Veronica sighed, closing the email and typing out a new one to Martha.

**_Hey. I think I might send a submission to the Confessions._ **

She sighed and switched back to the Westerburg Confessions tab.

* * *

“‘I have a crush on all three of the Heathers,’” Duke read, “‘I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I can’t get them out of my head. The worst part is, I know they’d never want me.’”

Chandler scoffed, stretching out in her place on her bed. “Whoever this guy is, he’s probably right.”

Duke read further and her eyes widened. “It, uh… isn’t a boy.”

Chandler sat upright, peering over Duke’s shoulder. “‘They’re gorgeous, unattainable, mysterious, and I’m just some boring girl who’s too scared to say anything.’”

Duke huffed out a laugh. “Well, whoever she is, at least she knows she hasn’t got a chance, right?”

Chandler nodded, her expression blank as she thought of who might have posted it, trying desperately to ignore who she sincerely _hoped_ it was.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The thick plottens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please consider donating to my patreon if you can!
> 
> https://www.patreon.com/shanes_scribbles

“So,” Betty drawled, flopping backwards onto the couch beside Veronica, “You decided to tell the whole world about your crush on the Heathers? Bold move.”

“What are you talking about?” Veronica frowned. “My confession was the one about being scared to tell the people I started hanging out with about my anxiety and panic attacks.”

Martha frowned. “Then who sent the submission about being in love with the Heathers?”

Veronica shrugged. “I don’t really care. Besides, it’s not even a big deal. It’s just a blog post.”

Just then, the door opened and in rushed a flustered-looking Ms. Fleming.

“Hello girls!” Fleming hung her coat on the coat rack by the door, shivering despite the warmth of the house. “It’s so cold out there tonight!”

“Hi Aunt Pauline,” Veronica smiled, “Did you have a safe drive here?”

“Always,” Fleming replied, “Did you have any luck figuring out where the emails came from, Betty?”

“Yup. They were all sent from a coffee shop near the school, so there’s no way of figuring out exactly  _ who _ sent them.”

Fleming grinned. “I’m honestly rather glad. It’s good that the students have somewhere they can go to talk about their problems without risking judgement.”

Betty blinked. “So… you  _ don’t _ want the administration to figure out who’s running the blog?”

“Well, as long as it remains a place where the students can share important things about themselves without being afraid of ridicule, I say let them have their fun.”

“That’s surprisingly insightful,” Martha said.

“Surprising? How so?” Fleming asked.

Veronica chuckled. “Martha just meant that there aren’t a lot of other adults around here who would take the same stance as you on this.”

“Ah. Well, I suppose that makes sense.”

“I hope the blog gets to keep running a while longer, at least,” Veronica muttered, “It could do a lot of good, and I’d hate to see it all go down before it can help anyone.”

Fleming nodded in agreement.

“Anyway,” Betty said, “Does the faculty have any ideas as to who might be running the blog?”

“None yet,” Fleming chuckled, “They’re tripping over themselves trying to figure out who set it up, but there aren’t any clues, and nobody seems to have any information as to who might have sent the emails.”

“I can’t wait until all those concerned parents realize there’s nothing the school can do to stop their kids from being gay,” Betty remarked.

Fleming groaned. “I’m  _ really _ not looking forward to dealing with the parents once they realize the blog can’t be taken down.”

Veronica snickered. “God, I do  _ not _ envy you right now.”

Fleming smiled ruefully, before wandering towards the other side of the house to find Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer in the study.

“How long do you think it’s going to take for the parents to figure out that the faculty can’t have the blog taken down?” Martha asked.

“A week, tops.” Veronica said, picking up the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table and setting it on her lap. “They’re gonna want to keep tabs on their kids to make sure they don’t go back to the blog, and when they do, they’re gonna realize that nothing’s been done and demand to know why.”

Betty snorted, pressing play on the remote and settling in next to Veronica. “Those parents are in for a surprise when they find out the school can’t do anything.”

* * *

 

“Martha.”

Chandler snorted. “She couldn’t be running the blog. She doesn’t have those kinds of connections, and even if she did, she couldn’t set up a website like that one without help.”

Duke crossed the name off the list, squinting at the unfamiliar one after Martha’s name. “Jason Dean.”

“Who?”

“The new kid,” Mac said, “He’s in my American History class. Kind of an emo stereotype.”

Chandler hummed thoughtfully. “Could be. He’s new, so we don’t know if he has technological expertise, and he could have befriended someone high enough on the social ladder to help him email everyone. We’ll keep an eye on him.”

Duke circled the name, snorting at the next one on the list. “Peter.”

Chandler laughed. “ _ Please, _ he’s so dull he probably still uses  _ MySpace. _ ”

Duke chuckled as she crossed the name off the list.

They’d been working at it for almost a half hour, trying to figure out who was running the blog, or at least to narrow it down. So far, they had limited leads. Courtney had connections, but not the technological know-how. Dennis had the tech knowledge and some of the connections, but he didn’t really have a motive. That was the problem. None of them could think of a reason why someone would create the blog. It was driving them all up the wall, and they were only finishing up the senior class. After this, they still had to go through the juniors, sophomores, and freshmen.

If Veronica hadn’t ditched them for a “family emergency,” they’d already be halfway done by now.

Mac groaned. “Ugh. This is pointless. We’re never going to figure out who made the blog, so why are we even doing it?”

Duke furrowed her brow, deep in thought. “Maybe we’re looking at this wrong.”

Chandler frowned. “What are you talking about, Heather?”

“I mean,” Duke said, “That we’re just going by name. What we  _ should _ be doing is looking for people who haven’t posted on the blog yet. That way, we’ll know who it might be.”

“And what makes you think that’ll work?”

Duke frowned. “Well, if whoever made the blog made it in order to gather information, then it stands to reason they wouldn’t post anything on it, right? Plus, since the submissions are sent through email, whoever made the blog has access to information on the entire student body. If they add their own to it, then if anything gets leaked, they’re at risk, too.”

Chandler thought for a moment. It seemed plausible. “Fine. We’ll get Veronica to start asking around tomorrow to see if anyone hasn’t posted anything yet.”

Duke nodded, glad that Chandler had considered her idea for once.


	4. Enter: JD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JD makes his entrance.

“We have a job for you.” Chandler said.

“Good morning to you, too.” Not even twenty seconds after walking into the school building, Veronica had been accosted by the Heathers.

Chandler huffed. “Whatever. Listen, we need you to find out who hasn’t posted on the blog yet.”

Veronica rolled her eyes, taking a sip of her coffee. “Still hung up on the whole blog thing, huh?”

“Well, when a group of students has access to the secrets of the entire student body, people take notice.”

 _“Right,”_ Veronica said. “And why do you care?”

“We need to find out who’s running the blog and see if they’ll give us any information!” Duke snapped.

Veronica grinned. “You think that’s gonna work?”

“Why wouldn’t it?”

Veronica scoffed. “The blog’s being run by three people, right? And those three people would have to be acquaintances at the very least in order to coordinate something like this. So you’re looking for at least three friends, at least one of whom would have to have some sort of tech expertise.”

Mac nodded. “Yeah. Do you have an idea?”

“Well, Heather runs the yearbook, so she has to have some kind of tech skills, right? And the three of you together would probably have no trouble putting together something like that.”

Chandler scoffed. “It’s not us. Or at the very least, it isn’t me.”

Veronica hummed. “I have no way of knowing if you’re telling the truth or not. Then again, you probably wouldn’t be asking me to help you figure out who’s behind the blog if you were the ones running it.”

“Have _you_ sent anything to the blog?” Duke asked.

“Yup,” Veronica took another sip of her coffee. “Last night.”

Duke huffed, looking oddly disappointed.

“Anyway, you want me to make a list of people who haven’t sent in a submission yet?”

Chandler nodded.

“Alright. I’ll let you know what I find.”

* * *

 

Veronica thanked the group of freshmen for their help and walked away. She’d amassed a small list of people who hadn’t submitted a confession yet, but she doubted any of them would be the ones running the blog.

Suddenly, she collided with someone. She fell back onto the linoleum tile with a yelp, dropping her bag and landing painfully on her elbow.

“Shit!”

She heard a thud, and a groan, and when she looked up, she saw what, or rather, _who,_ had been responsible for her fall.

He stood up quickly and offered her a hand. “Sorry about that. I guess I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

Veronica took his hand, noting the freckles dotting his pale skin, and let him help her up. “It’s fine. I was a little distracted.”

“Mind if I ask what had you so preoccupied?” He grinned.

Veronica smiled back, and found she rather liked the way his own smile widened. “Just trying to get some answers about this whole blog thing.”

“The Confessions?”

Veronica nodded, rubbing her sore elbow absently. “You know it?”

He smirked. “Know it? I’ve been following the rumor mill ever since the whispers started.”

“A dedicated gossip, then?” Veronica was intrigued.

“Not quite. More of an investigator, actually. I’ve been trying to find out who’s running it, and why.”

Veronica grinned, picking her bag up from the ground and slinging it over her shoulder. “Mind giving me a hand, then? I’ve been compiling a list of people that haven’t sent in a confession yet, and I could use an extra set of hands to help me finish faster.”

“Sure thing.” He smiled, “Any particular reason you’re trying to figure it out?”

“The Heathers want to know who’s doing it so they can get information to use against the other students,” Veronica explained. “I’m really only helping because so far there’s not enough information to find out who’s running the blog.”

“You think they’ll ever figure it out?”

Veronica laughed. “I doubt it. None of them even know what they’re looking for.”

“And you do?”

“Not really. Then again, I don’t really care who’s running the blog, as long as they aren’t planning on using everyone’s secrets against them.”

He nodded. “Makes sense. So, if you’re not invested in it, then why are you working so hard to help figure it out?”

Veronica shrugged. “It’s something to do. Things are pretty boring here in the small town of Sherwood, Ohio.”

“That they are.” He chuckled. “I just realized, I don’t know your name.”

Veronica smirked. “I’ll share mine if you tell me yours.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” He joked, “But I suppose I’ll accept your terms. My name’s Jason Dean. Most people just call me JD.”

“Veronica. Sawyer.” Veronica smiled politely, reaching her hand out for him to shake. “Pleased to meet you, Jason Dean.”

He took her hand with a grin. “The pleasure is all mine, Veronica Sawyer.”

Veronica laughed at the formality of it all, and when JD joined in, she found herself smiling wider than usual. He had a nice laugh.

* * *

 

“So, have you met the new guy?” Betty asked.

“Yeah. His name’s JD,” Veronica smiled. “He’s pretty nice. Polite, mysterious, new.”

“Sounds like someone has another crush.” Betty teased.

Veronica scoffed. “You need to get your facts straight.”

Betty grinned. “Nothing about me is straight and you know it.”

Martha smiled fondly at her friend’s antics. “So, he’s new, and that makes him interesting?”

Veronica shrugged. “Kind of. He’s trying to figure out who’s running the Confessions and why.”

“Well, he might have better luck than the faculty,” Betty smirked. “They haven’t been able to narrow anything down.”

“Good,” Martha said. “The blog is doing a good thing. I don’t see why anyone wants it to be taken down.”

“Just a bunch of concerned parents trying to police their kids’ browsing habits, probably.” Betty rolled her eyes.

“Anyway,” Veronica said, “What’s the consensus on JD?”

Martha shrugged. “He seems okay, but I’d keep an eye on him, just to make sure.”

Betty nodded. “Agreed.”

“Alright then. I’ll make sure to be careful around him.”

**Author's Note:**

> As always, feel free to leave a comment! I love getting feedback from everyone who reads my stories! Also, please don't hesitate to send me an ask at shanes-scribbles on tumblr!


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